Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods
Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods (ドラゴンボールZ 神と神, Doragon Bōru Zetto: Kami to Kami; lit. "Dragon Ball Z: God and God") is the 14th Dragon Ball Z movie. It will premiere in Japanese theaters on March 30, 2013.Weekly Shōnen Jump #33, July 14, 2012 It is the first animated ''Dragon Ball'' movie in 17 years to have a theatrical release, the last being the tenth anniversary movie Dragon Ball: The Path to Power in 1996, which followed the first three Dragon Ball films and the thirteen Dragon Ball Z films. Summary The events of Battle of Gods take place several years after the titanic battle with Majin Buu, which determined the fate of the entire universe. Bills, a God of Destruction tasked with maintaining balance in the universe, awakens from a long slumber. 39 years prior, the Oracle Fish foretold that a mighty opponent would appear before him, the Super Saiyan God. Now, hearing rumors that a Saiyan defeated the galactic overlord Frieza, Bills tracks down this warrior, Goku. On King Kai's planet with his ally, the mysterious Whis, Bills proceeds to challenge Goku. Ecstatic over the new challenge, Goku does not heed King Kai's advice and battles Bills, but he is overwhelmed and defeated. Bills then departs in order to seek out more powerful adversaries on Earth.[http://www.toei-anim.co.jp/movie/2013_dragonballz/introduction/ Dragon Ball 2013 official website, Introduction section] Meanwhile, at Capsule Corporation, Bulma's birthday party is being held and the Z Fighters are enjoying leisure activities. Piccolo sings karaoke, Gohan appears as Great Saiyaman, the Pilaf Gang appears and they have apparently been turned into children.V-Jump, issue #3, 2013 A motorcycle policewoman is also present at the celebration. However, the God of Destruction's arrival erupts the party and it appears that Vegeta seems to have met Bills before. Android 18, Tien Shinhan, Piccolo, Gotenks, Gohan, Mr. Buu, and Vegeta attempt to fight him, however, the God of Destruction easily defeats them one after another. Meanwhile, Whis enjoys sushi in a restaurant near Capsule Corporation, not even bothering to watch the battles unfold. Later, Goku confronts Bills again and they wage an intense battle in space, right above planet Earth. At one point in the movie, the Z Fighters and their friends summon Shenron with the Dragon Balls. During the titanic battle, Goku transforms into a form beyond even Super Saiyan 3, the Super Saiyan God,V-Jump, issue #4, 2013 fulfilling the prophecy once stated by the Oracle Fish. History The film was first announced on July 2012, in the 33rd issue of Weekly Shōnen Jump. Early in July, the official website for the magazine had already opened a "D" teaser page with a countdown to a "surprise" on Saturday, July 14, release date of the 33rd issue. On July 14, the countdown site and official websites were changed to show Shenron appearing and then disappearing, revealing some minor information of the upcoming film; this includes the premiere date, staff information, and companies involved in the production (Fox International Productions Japan, Shueisha, Fuji TV, Toei Animation, Bandai, Bandai Namco Games, and Bird Studio). Goku, Gohan, Piccolo, Krillin, Goten, Trunks, Vegeta, and Shenron appear on the first promotional arts shown and the tagline revealed is The best, begins (最強、始動, Saikyō, Shidō), followed by "The world has eagerly-awaited. It's the most exciting like never before..." (全人類待望。かつてない興奮へー, Zen jinrui taibō. Katsute nai kōfune). The official website also announced a comment by Akira Toriyama about the movie printed in Weekly Shōnen Jump #33: the Dragon Ball series creator notes that the adaptation will mark the first time he has been so deeply involved in the production of an anime, in this case as early as the screenwriting stages. Toriyama also says that the film will retain the atmosphere of the original while adding small amounts of "modern flavor." Toei Animation released a press statement on July 17, 2012: On July 21, 2012, a short teaser trailer announcing the film was shown at the Saikyō V-Jump Festa: the camera drives through a rocky area towards Goku, who is standing on a rocky mountain. At the end, a close on Goku's face shows him smiling. Both Toriyama's comment and the teaser trailer were added to the official website in August 2012. The funding of this movie costs ¥50 million ($636,000 USD) received by Toei from the Agency for Cultural Affairs (Bunka-cho) as part of the non-profit organization UNIJAPAN’s “Co-production Certification Program”. Of the four films awarded funding support, this movie was the only animated film to receive such an honor due to its “enduring international popularity” and its production collaboration with Fox."New Dragon Ball Z Film Gets 50 million Yen Support from Japanese Government", crunchyroll.com During the 30th Prize Fair, which took place in Tokyo on November 7, 2012, Bandai showcased some of their new ''Dragon Ball figures for winter 2012, as well their World Collectable Figure line produced in conjunction with the 2013 movie. This latter covers characters that make an appearance in the 2013 movie: along with Vegeta and Super Saiyan 3 Goku, the three members of the Pilaf Gang were among the figures revealed. Those who pre-ordered a ticket to the movie also get a set of three Dragon Ball pens, with Set A including the Six-Star (pink), Seven-Star (orange), and One-Star balls (black) and Set B including the Two-Star (purple), Five-Star (green), and Three-Star balls (light blue). Buying pre-sale tickets gets a special QR code for use with Dragon Ball Heroes: Ultimate Mission (adding a boss battle against the God of Destruction Bills), a Dragon Ball Heroes theatrical limited-edition card, and the Four-Star Ball pen (red) and a Dragon Radar case to store all seven pens given at the theater.Weekly Shōnen Jump, first February 2013 issue With the movie title revealed on November 2012, a special pre-sale Collaboration Ticket with the One Piece Z movie was made to commemorate the release of the two films. The dual-ticket good for both films has a special new illustration by both Eiichirō Oda (author of One Piece) and Akira Toriyama. Limited to 8,989 across Japan, the tickets went on sale on November 23, 2012, for ¥2,600 ($31.51 USD) apiece. Also, pre-sale tickets packed with special limited-edition items were sold in the Lawson and Mini Stop convenience-store chains: one pack included a Son Goku Mascot Ballpoint Pen for ¥2,160 (high school and up), ¥1,660 (age 3 to junior high), or ¥2,860 (parent-child pairs) and the other included a Shenron Room Light for ¥7,000 (high school and up), ¥6,500 (age 3 to junior high), or ¥7,700 (parent and child pair). The film poster and the two new characters' names and Japanese voice actors were officially revealed on November 29, 2012, on Weekly Shōnen Jump scans. The film poster displays Super Saiyan Goku combating the God of Destruction Bills, with the mysterious Whis floating showered in light in the background. Various returning characters are also featured on the poster (Mr. Satan, Mr. Buu, Videl, the shrunken Pilaf Gang, Super Saiyan Goten, Super Saiyan Gohan, Super Saiyan Vegeta, Super Saiyan Trunks, Bulma, Piccolo, Tien Shinhan, Krillin, Yamcha and Puar). The first real trailer for the film was aired on Fuji TV on December 7, 2012, in the morning news/magazine show Mezamashi TV, as Toei started showing it at movie theaters. A 30 minute Battle of Gods discussion panel was held at Jump Festa 2013; on the Jump Super Stage, on December 22, 2012. Along with the voice actors Masako Nozawa, Mayumi Tanaka, Toshio Furukawa, the film director Masahiro Hosoda, editor-in-chief Akio Iyoku, and Toei Animation producer Gyarmath Bogdan took part at the discussion which was overseen by former YBS TV announcer Mariko Nakagomi. Masako Nozawa read out a letter from Akira Toriyama saying he tried hard as personal revenge for the live-action film which was bad, and that he and the scriptwriters reworked the story a bunch of times. The character images Toriyama drew for the movie were displayed; he drew Android 18 with purple hair instead of blonde and he had to have this pointed out to him. As part of a collaboration with the Japanese J-League Division 1 football team Albirex Niigata, a special poster unveiled on the official Battle of Gods website in February 20, 2013, was displayed across Niigata Prefecture in promotion of their match on March 3, 2013, with the defending J-League Division 1 champions Sanfrecce Hiroshima. The poster is based on the official Battle of Gods poster, with the movie characters replaced by the football team's players: the figure in the background replacing Whis is the team's manager Masaaki Yanagishita, Bills has been replaced by the Sanfrecce Hiroshima goalkeeper Shūsaku Nishikawa, and Goku is replaced by the team's forward Bruno Lopes. In addition, all supporters at the match were emblazoned in orange, Goku made an "appearance" at the stadium, and the Dragon Ball Z theme song was used to rouse even more support. A team spokesman, along with the team's forwards Bruno Lopes and Tatsuya Tanaka, released comments about the collaboration and their adoration for the Dragon Ball series; Bruno Lopes, who is originally from Brazil and a noted big fan of the series, said that the series is still very popular in his homeland, so he is really happy and touched to be involved with it in Japan. A live greeting by castmembers, followed by a preview screening of the film took place across Japan on Tuesday, March 12th, 2013, with a limited number of attendees determined from a ''Jump lottery. The lottery tickets were included in 22 different Shueisha magazines (including Weekly Shōnen Jump, V-Jump, Jump SQ, and Ultra Jump) and 884 pairs (1768 people) were invited. There were five screenings, all the same day and at 6:30 p.m: Shinjuku Wald 9 cinema in Tokyo (428 people), Umeda Burg 7 theater in Osaka (440 people), 109 Cinemas in Nagoya (256 people), T-Joy Hakata in Fukuoka (322 people), and Sapporo Cinema Frontier in Sapporo (322 people).Weekly Young Jump, issue #5/6, 2013 The special cast greeting at the Tokyo venue was beamed live to the other location before the screening. A second preview screening of the entire film, called "Tenkaichi Preview", took place at the Differ Ariake indoor sporting arena in Tokyo on March 16, 2013: the special event included an on-stage greeting with the special guests Masako Nozawa, the band FLOW, and a few others. The 250 pairs (500 people) invited to this second screening were determined with lottery tickets included in V-Jump, Weekly Jump, and Saikyō Jump, as well as 50 sets (100 tickets) given away to those that spend ¥10,500 (~$110) or more at the 109MEN'S clothing store in Tokyo from February 22, 2013 to March 3, 2013, with the winners randomly chosen (online purchases were also eligible to win tickets by entering the promo code "DBZ" at checkout, although only 10 of the 100 allotted tickets went toward purchases made online). Battle of Gods is also the first-ever Japanese film to be screened at IMAX Digital Theaters, screening at all 16 IMAX Digital Theater locations across Japan. Cast Staff *'Original Author': Akira Toriyama *'Scenario': Yūsuke Watanabe *'Director': Masahiro Hosoda *'Music': Norihito Sumitomo *'Character design and animation director': Tadayoshi Yamamuro *'Art Director': Hiroshi Katō *'Color design': Teppei Horita *'Special Effects': Nao Ōta *'CG Director': Naoki Miyahara *'Production Supervisor': Kazumi Fujioka *'Production': Toei Animation Music *Trailer Music: **Immediate Music - Conquest of Kingdoms (Epic Choral Action #1 - composed by Yoav Goren) - Teaser trailer **Immediate - Emergence of Empires (Trailerhead: Saga (based on "Rising Empires" from Themes for Orchestra & Choir 2: Abbey Road) - composed by Yoav Goren) - Trailer *OP (Opening Theme): "Cha-La Head-Cha-La" (FLOW version)FLOW official website[http://www.toei-anim.co.jp/movie/2013_dragonballz/news/02.html Dragon Ball 2013 official website, News section] Trivia *The film features the special guest voices Kaori Matsumoto (olympic gold-medalist judoka) and Shōko Nakagawa (gravure idol/singer/TV-personality). The Fuji TV announcer Shinichi Karube also has a bit part in the movie."Battle of Gods" Mezamashi TV Promotion Gallery Screenshots Characters Promotional material References External links *[http://shonenjump.com/j/countdown/ Shōnen Jump countdown page] *[http://www.dragonball2013.com Dragon Ball 2013 official website] *[http://www.toei-anim.co.jp/movie/2013_dragonballz/ Toei Animation's Dragon Ball 2013 official page] *[http://plaza.rakuten.co.jp/heisei7/diary/201301180007/ Battle of Gods merchandising at plaza.rakuten.co.jp] es:Dragon Ball Z: La Batalla de los Dioses ca:Bola de Drac Z: La Batalla dels Déus Category:Films Category:Dragon Ball Z films